Very bad news from Ukraine, where a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane with 295 people aboard has reportedly been shot down by Ukrainian separatists.

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian official said a Malaysian passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down Thursday over a town in the east of the country.

Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, said on his Facebook page the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it was hit by a missile fired from a Buk launcher. A similar launcher was seen by Associated Press journalists near the eastern Ukrainian town of Snizhne earlier Thursday.

As with all stories like this we need to be skeptical of early reports, but this isn’t looking good. Check the comments for this thread for further updates.

Malaysia Airlines flight #MH17 just before it disappeared over Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/xvDHsEQtkg

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 17, 2014